Surf Anonymously with a "Virtual Private Network"

I probably don't need to remind you that courtesy of the "War on Everything," in the United States, basically everything you do online is subject to surveillance.

Your e-mail, your newsgroup visits, your Web browsing history, your online chat sessions, etc. all are monitored.  Much of the time, this monitoring occurs without any warrant or the review of any court. 

For instance, thanks to the USA PATRIOT Act, police can now issue a subpoena, with no judicial review, to obtain your online "records of session times and durations," as well as records of "any temporarily assigned network address."  This data makes it faster and easier to identify computer users and trace your Internet communications. 

Fortunately, it's not difficult to defeat this type of surveillance.  The secret is to use a technology called a "virtual private network" (VPN).

Internet-based VPNs encrypt connections at the sending and receiving ends, and keep out traffic that's not encrypted.  A VPN protects your data and communications from criminals, co-workers, and even your Internet Service Provider (ISP).  If the FBI comes calling and wants to know who you're communicating with, all your ISP will have to show them will be a connection to your VPN, and nothing more. 

There are numerous kinds of VPNs, some more reliable and secure than others.  I'm not competent to judge the competing standards, but I can say that I prefer VPNs that are non-U.S. based.  That way, the records the VPN provider maintains aren't subject to the USA PATRIOT Act and similar laws. 

Two VPN services that I've recommended in the past are Armorgate (http://www.armorware.com) and Diclave (http://www.diclave.net).  I've found Diclave easier to use, but Armorgate appears to offer a more comprehensive service.  Both are non-U.S. based: Armorware is in Canada, and Diclave in Germany.  (Diclave is in the process of being acquired by Panama-based Kryptohippie.  When the acquisition is complete in a few weeks, the http://kryptohippie.com Web site—now under construction—will use Diclave's VPN technology.)   There are many other VPN choices; the point is that if you care about your online privacy, you should be using VPN technology.

You may find (as I did) that certain applications aren't compatible with your VPN.  If that's the case, when you activate the VPN, your firewall may try to reset connections for the various services that require Internet access, or that at least attempt to connect to the Internet.  Don't provide permission for any application to reconnect that you don't need.  This increases security even more as there are fewer potential points of attack for a hacker or eavesdropper to exploit. 

VPN subscriptions aren't cheap.  Diclave, for instance, costs US$385 annually.  But only you can decide on what your privacy is worth. 

Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann